Some years, my trip to Acton is epic. I’ve found long-sought-after gems for my collection, or I’ve finalized a big trade, or the journey to the meet brought me somewhere unforgettable. While Acton is never disappointing, the 2026 edition was pretty low-key for me, all things considered. From Terry Ellsworth: Two, three, four, five, and six-digit 1921 plates. Anyone have a single-digit? Eric Vettoretti and I left Ottawa after five o’clock because of inflexible workday commitme

Dave Grant organized the annual Ottawa Christmas Dinner once again, which he founded in 2008. It has gradually changed into the...

Gary George Edwards passed away earlier this month. He had developed multiple complications from injuries sustained in a fall earlier in...

The 2024 ALPCA Convention in Lansing was less of a convention for me, and more of a mission… a quartet of missions, actually. But square...

I was watching TV and playing on my phone on Sunday night when I received word from Don Goodfellow and Dave Colonna that longtime...

Here’s the annual outtake round-up… pictures that didn’t make it into any 2Cents columns, most of which are being seen here for the first...

The Acton meet came full circle this year—and my, how things have changed. The inaugural Acton swap meet, now 20 years ago, happened on...

Here’s the annual outtake round-up… pictures that didn’t make it into any 2Cents columns, most of which are being seen here for the first...

The 2022 edition of Grimsby was always going to be unlike any of its previous installments. It had been three years since the last meet...

Sometimes, when you get the call, you have to accept the charges. Such was the case this month for Dave Steckley, Eric Vettoretti, and...

May ‘22 was a busy month for me as a plate collector, with no fewer than three out-of-town trips to gather metal rectangles. The previous...

I suppose that, after three years, I’ve established an annual tradition here at The Back Bumper… a 2Cents installment for all those...

Today’s the day! Blue numbers on a white background are no longer being issued to passenger vehicles in Ontario. After 47 years, we’re finally making a transition to something substantially new. Alannah with the first blue plate in town. I’m not a spring chicken anymore; I'm closer to 50 than 40. In my time, Ontario passenger plates have always been white with blue letters. The colour is changing, starting today, to white characters on two shades of blue. That’s really exciti

I’m exhausted! What a meet. Where do I start? And, as I’ll ponder later on, where do we go from here? My kids are grown-up enough that I...

My trip to #Acton this year was a little abbreviated. I always hope to rise early on the Saturday and take my time checking out junk...

For the past couple of years, when Eric and I have gone to the Acton swap meet together, we’ve planned out a unique route and left early...